Typewriter line space mechanism



Jan. 12, 1932. ARBE'LL 1,841,106

TYPEWRITER LINE SPACE MECHANISM Filed Dec. 1, 1927 2 SheetsSheet 1WITNESS: INVENTOIg.

6%,! 2%zK/K Jan. 12, 1932. GARBELL 1,841,106

TYPEWRITER LINE SPACE MECHANISM Filed Dec. 1, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 asWI TNESS: I IN VEN TOR.

Patented 12, 1932 UNITED STATES MAX GARBELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,ASSIGNOR TO VICTOR ADDING MACHINE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ACORPORATION OF ILLINOIS TYPEWBITER LINE SPACE MECHANISM Applicationfiled December 1,-1927. Serial No. 236,920.

My invention relates to typewriters and it has particular relation toline spacing mechanism for use in typewr'iting machines.

While I will hereinafter describe my improved line spacing mechanism aspeculiarly adapted for use in connection with a portable typewriter andfor this reason point out the manner in which the finger-engagable linespacing lever may be utilized in a portable typewriter, it is to beunderstood that the elements of my mechanism are not confined to suchuse but may be emplo ed in typewriters of standard size if esired.However, I wish to emphasize that the line spacing mechanism proposed byme is adapted for use with a line spacing lever in such manner that saidlever may be collapsed into a minimum volumeoccupying space whenrequired.

My invention will be better understood by reference to the accompanyindrawings, in which I have shown as much a typewriting machine as isnecessary to illustrate a complete reduction to practice so far as theoperating portions of a line spacing. entity are concerned.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary, perspective view of the left-hand end of aplaten together with the spacing mechanism, whereby the material beingwritten on is advanced lineby-line through the rotation of said platen;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the platensupporting frame and the linespacing lever mounted thereupon;

Fig. 3 is an elevational, sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 2

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the line spacing lever incollapsed position;

Fig. 5 is a view of the elements shown in Fig. 4, taken from the otherside of the end frame;

Fig. 6 is an elevational view of the operating elements of the linespacing mechanism, said view being taken from the front of the machineand being partially sectioned to show said operating elements;

Fig. 7 is an elevational view of the inside of the left-handplaten-supporting end frame showing the line spacing elements ininoperative position;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7 showing the elements after the linespacing lever has been moved to effect a rotation of the papersupportingplaten, the fullline position of a stop member being that utilized whena acing of one line is desired, while the dotted lines show the positionof said stop when two lines or a double space is needed;

Fig. 8a is a top plan view of a portion of the device showing the meansfor setting the line space stop for either single or double spacing;

Fig. 9 is an elevational end view of a modified form of a line spacinglever, the full line position being that utilized when the cover of themachine is off, and the dotted line showing being the position of theline spacing lever, or associated elements, when the cover is on; and

Fig. 10 is an elevational, sectional view taken on the line 1010 of Fig.9.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, I will first describe theoperative elements of the line spacing mechanism without reference tothe manner in which the line spacing lever may be mounted forcollapsing. A paper supporting platen 11 is carried on a shaft 12, whichlatter is mounted in end frames, the left-hand end frame being shown at13. These end frames are mounted on the typewriter carriage in anydesired manner. A knurled knob 14 is utilized to turn the platen 11 anynumber of desired spaces, this knob being connected to the platen in aparticular manner to permit of the platen being freed from the normalline spaclng mechanism to provide for variable line spacing. Themechanism for variable line spacportion 18 are of peculiar and novelconfig-.

uration, whereby the finger is permitted to engage the lever in a normalmanneras the hand in its easiest position is swept transversely of themachine (see Fig: 2). The pe culiar configuration of the lever is suchthat a low assembly of the elements is permitted. Because of the saidlow compact assembly, I do not find it necessary in all cases to makethe spacing lever collapsible to accommodate the cover of an enclosingcase, such as is usually provided for covering and carying a portabletypewriter.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the lever 17, by reason of its peculiar shapefits down very closely to the top of the machine, hereby permitting theline spacing elements to be so compactly contained in a minimum volumethat the enclosing cover is substantially no higher or larger than ifthe said lever were collapsed.

The lever 17 is pivotally secured to the top of the lug 16 by a screw19, so that movement of the part 18 by the finger causes an oscillatorymovement of the lever 17 in a horizontal plane and about the point ofpivotal con nection to the member 16. Extending in a bell-crank mannerfrom the end of lever 17 at its pivotal point is an arm 20 which isdropped downwardly as shown and passes through an elongated slot 21 inthe end frame 13. An arm or pull rod 22 has a right-angled portion 23thereof secured to the inner end of arm 20 by a screw 24, said arm 22extending substantially parallel to the inner face of the end frame 13.This particular connection permits the vertical movement of arm 20 withrespect to arm 22, mallow/"depression of the spacing lever 17, ashereafter described. Tf, however, it is not necessary to depress saidlever, the arm 20 may be connected directly to the end of arm 22 withoutthe interposition of the collar slide.

A pivotally mounted arm 25 has an enlarged circular portion 26journalled about the shaft 12 and carries a lug 27 which is constantlyurged downwardly and to the left around the shaft 12 by a spring 28,which latter is attached at 29 to the inner and bot tom edge of the endframe 13.

A pawl 30 is pivotally mounted at 31 on the upper end of the arm 25,said pawl having a gear-engaging tooth 30a which is adapted to engage inthe teeth of, and move, a gear 32, which latter is fastened to the shaft12 of the platen 11. The arm 22 is secured to the pawl arm 30 at 33, itbeing noted that said point 33 is below the point 31 at which the arm 30is connected to the pivoted rotatable arm 25.

A stop member 34, having a knurled finger engageable portion 35extending through a slot 36 in the upper edge 37 of the end frame 13, isalso journalled about the shaft 12. Said member 34 is slightly resilientto permit its movement from one end of the slot 36 to the other endthereof, it being noted that said slot .36. has a small partition orbarrier 36a midway. thereof, so that the member 34 may be positionedeither in the space 36?), designated as l or in the portion 360,designated as 2. The operator of the machine may, therefore, fix thefinger piece 34 in either the space 36?) or the space 360 and therebyobtain a proper line spacing of the paper when the lever 17 is operated,as will now be described.

The member 34 carries a stop lug 38 which extends at right-anglestherefrom and stands in the path of the arm 25 as the same is moved tothe right under the influence of the line spacing lever (see Figs. 7 and8). A roller 39 is mounted on the end of a spring member 40 and bearsagainst the inter-dental spaces of the gear 32 to insure an accurate andpositive toothby-tooth movement of said gear 32. The member 40 ismounted at 41 on the inner face of the end frame 13.

Assume now that it is desired to space the platen step-by-step one spaceat a time. The member 34 carrying the stop lug 38 is set in position 1as shown in Fig. 8-a. The lever 17 is moved to the right by pressure ofthe finger thereby rotating the same around the point 19 and causing theinner end of ant 20 to move to the right (see Figs. 7and 8) This causesthe arm 22 to likewise move tr the right and pull the pawl-arm 30 aroundits pivotal connection 31 so that the tooth 30(. engages one of the gearteeth of wheel 32 This particular movement is quite advantageous in thatthe pawl and platen-rotat ing gear wheel are positively engaged prior toa positive movement of the platen being initiated.

After the arm 30 has moved around its point of connection 31 to bringthe tooth 306 into engagement with one of the teeth or the wheel 32, afurther movement of said arm 22swings the arm 25 around its journalledconnection and carries said arm rearwardly until the stop 38 isencountered. The rotary movement of the platen is then posi tivelystopped, whereafter a release of th finger from the lever 17 permits thesprins 28 to pull the arm 25 in a counter-clockwisi direction until theupper arm thereof con tacts with the edge 37 of the frame 13.

A spring 42 is so mounted on the lug 1( that the lever 17 is constantlyurged into normal retracted position or to the left. When, therefore,said lever 17 is released the spring 42 restores it to normal position,and in so doing moves the arm to the left (Figs. 7 and 8), and causesthe pawl-arm 30,which is actuated by said arm 22,to be further swungabout its pivotal connection to withdraw the tooth m from the teeth ofthe wheel32.

It will be notedthat the angular movement of the platen 11 ispredetermined by the number of teeth which the finger 30 takes as it ismoved under the influence of arm 22 and the lever 17 The number of teethtaken by said pawl 30a is determined by the distance which said arm 25may move until the stop 38 is encountered. Therefore, by setting saidstop 38 at predetermined positions, the angular movement of the platen11 may be varied to space the material being written upon anypredetermined number of spaces.

In the form of my invention here illustrated, I have shown a mechanismfor moving the platen either one or two line spaces, but do not wish tobe limited to that construction, since the mechanism described may beadapted for more or less spaces according to the needs of the operator.

Referring to Fig. 8, I have shown in dotted lincsthe position of themember 34 and the stop 38 when it is desired to space the platen twolines by a single movement of the lever 17. In order to accomplish thesame, the finger piece is moved slightly to the right (see Fig. 8a) andpushed backwardly into space 360, at which time the member 34 will standin the position in dotted lines in Fig. 8. Now when the lever 17 ismoved, the arm 25 will be permitted to swing through twice the distanceas was heretofore explained which will result in the tooth 30a movingthe wheel 32 through an angular distance of two line spaces.

As I have before indicated, the line spacing elements heretoforedescribed and combined, are peculiarly susceptible to association with aline space lever which may be collapsed if desired. While, as I haveindicated, my particular lever does not require collapsing in order tofulfill the requirements of minimum volume occupying space,nevertheless, the combination of elements is such that the lever mav bemounted for collapsing if desired.

Referring to Figs. 4 and 5, I have illustrated the manner in which theabove described. combination may be constructed to permit suchcollapsing. It is only necessary to provide a rotary mounting for thestud 15, the same being accomplished by making said stud 15 of hollowcylindrical formation and slipping it over a pin 15a protruding from theoutside of the frame 13. The cylindrical member 15 is provided with alug 155 on the right side thereof and extending from the inside of theend frame 13, so that a spring 150 secured at 15d will restore themember 15 to a position in which the lug 16 is vertical should saidmember 15 be rotarily moved away from said latter position and thenreleased.

As shown in Fig. 5, the slot 21 is made deeper at the end 21a to allowthe inner lower portion of the arm 20 to move downwardly when the lever17 and the member 16 are rotated about the pin 15a. In Fig. 3, I haveillustrated the manner in which the arm 22 may be secured to the innerend of the arm 20 to permit of this movement. As shown in this figure,the right-hand end of the arm 22 is of U-shape formation comprising ayoke in which is supported a pin or rod 22a, the end of arm 20 beingmounted on said pin 22a so that as said arm 20 is moved downwardly, itslides along said pin 22a to provide for the collapsing of lever 17.

Assuming that the latter embodiment of my invention is employed as shownin Figs.

4 and 5, the placing of a cover over the machine may move-the lever 17downwardly to collapse the same. Upon the removal of said cover 45, thespring 150 rotates the cylindrical hollow member 15 to a predeter minedposition so that the line spacing lever mounting stud 16 is in verticalposition.

As before indicated, it is not necessary to provide such U-shapedconnection nor said cut-out end of the slot 21 if the lever 17 is not tobe depressed.

In Figs. 9 and 10 I have illustrated another form of line spacing leverconstructed in accordance with my invention and which is adaptable tooperate with the spacing elements heretofore described and iscollapsible if desired. The elements of this modified form are very muchthe same as those heretofore described, with the difference that thelever 17 is provided with a vertical extending finger piece 46. Thelever 17 in this latter form is pivotally mounted on the stud 16 and isreturned to normal position by a spring as was described in the firstillustrated embodiment of my invention. The said stud 16 is securelymounted on a composite member 47 which is journalled in the end frame 13and which has lug 48 extending therefrom through said frame, to whichlatter is attached a restoring spring 49 which is secured to a member 50also mounted in the frame 13. I

While I have described but two embodiments of my invention, it is to beunderstood I scribed, are adaptable for use in typewriti said inventionbe limited only by the scope.

of the appended claims and the prior art.

I claim:

1. In a typewriting machine, a platen, and line spacing mechanismincluding a linespace lever, a pull rod attached to the latter, saidlever comprising one arm of a bell crank the other arm of which isattached to said pull rod, a pivotally mounted pawl-supporting arm, apawl pivotally mounted upon the latter and connected to said pull rod,and a connection between said pull arm and said bell crank arm wherebyrelative vertical move ment therebetween occurs upon depression of saidlever.

2. In a typewriting machine, carriage end frames, a shaft mounted insaid frames, a platen carried on said shaft, mechanism for line-spacingsaid platen including a pivoted lever having a finger engageable portionand bell crank portion extending into proximity to the platen end, apull rod attached to said bell crank portion, an arm journalled aboutsaid shaft, a pawl pivotally mounted on said arm and connected to saidpull rod, a circular ratchet on said platen engageable by said pawl torotate the platen, and adjustable stop means for engaging said arm topermit the rotation of said platen a predetermined number of spaces whensaid lever is oscillated.

3. In a typewriting machine, carriage end frames, a shaft mounted insaid frames, a platen carried on said shaft, mechanism for line-spacingsaid platen including a pivoted lever having a finger engageable portionand bell crank portion extending into proximity to the platen end, apull rod attached to said bell crank portion, an arm journalled aboutsaid shaft, a pawl pivotally mounted on said arm and connected to saidpull rod, a circular ratchet on'said platen engageableby said pawl torotate the platen, and adjustable stop means comprising a stop armpivotally mounted on one of the end frames for engaging said arm topermit the rotation of said platen a'predetermined number of spaces whensaid lever is oscillated.

4. In a typewriting machine, carriage end frames, a shaft mounted insaid frames, a platen carried on said shaft, mechanism for line-spacingsaid platen including a pivoted lever having a finger engageable portionand bell crank portion extending into proximity to the platen end, apull rod attached to said bell crank portion, an arm journalled aboutsaid shaft, a pawl pivotally mounted on said arm and connected to saidpull rod, a circular ratchet on said platen engageable by said pawl torotate the platen, and adjustable stop means comprising an arm pivotallymounted about said shaft and provided with means to stop saidpawl-supporting arm after a predetermined rotation of said platen.

5. In a typewriting machine, carriage end frames, a shaft mounted insaid frames, a platen carried on said shaft, mechanism for line-spacingsaid platen including a pivoted lever having a finger engageable portionand bell crank portion extending into proximity to the platen end, apull rod attached to said hell crank portion, an arm journalled aboutsaid shaft, a pawl pivotally mounted on said arm and connected to saidpull rod, a circular ratchet on said platen and engageable by said pawlto rotate the platen, and an adjustable stop arm, said stop armextending through a portion of the end frame and said frame beingprovided with positioning means to permit the variable placement of saidstop arm, said arm being movable transversely of the platen to occupy aselected position.

6. In a typewriting machine, a carriage end frames, a shaft mounted insaid frames, a platen carried on said shaft, mechanism for line-spacingsaid platen including a pivoted lever having a finger engageable portionand bell crank portion extending into proximity to the platen end, apull rod attached to said bell crank portion, an arm journalled aboutsaid shaft, a pawl pivotally mounted on said arm and connected to saidpull rod, a circular ratchet on said platen and engageable by said pawlto rotate the platen, and an adjustable stop arm, said stop armextending through a portion of the end frameand said frame beingprovided with a plurality of recesses in which said arm may be seated,said arm being slightly resilient to permit its placement in a selectedrecess to thereby stop said pawl arm and permit a predetermined spacedrotation of said platen.

7. In a typewriting machine, a platen, end frames supporting saidplaten, a stud projecting from one of said end frames, a lever supportpivoted on said stud to swing in a vertical plane, and a line-spacelever pivotally mounted on said support.

8. In a typewriting machine, a platen, end frames supporting saidplaten, a stud projecting from one of said end frames, a line spacelever mounted on said stud and connected to said platen to line spacethe latter, said lever being so mounted that it is depressible, andmeans associated with said stud for automatically restoring said leverafter either a line space movement or a depression thereof.

9. In a typewriting machine, a platen, end frames supporting saidplaten, a stud supported by one of said end frames, a line-space levermounted on said stud to be swung in a horizontal line-spacing plane andin a vertica-l'plane for depression, and a pull rod operably associatingsaid lever and platen to rotate said platen, said attachment being suchthat the aforesaid depression of said lever takes place withoutalfectingsaid rod.

10. in a typewriting machine, a platen, end frames supporting the same,a supporting member pivotally mounted on one en frame, a line spacelever mounted on said supporting member to have pivotal movement withrespect thereto and to be depressible by pivotal movement therewith,said lever comprising a bell crank, one arm of which isfinger-engageable,' a pull rod attached to the other arm of said bellcrank, said latter arm passing through an aperture in said end frame andbeing attached to said pull rod by means permitting relative verticalmovement therebetween when said lever is depressed.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name. MAX GARBELL.

